This past weekend was my brother and sister-in-law's coed lumberjack-themed baby shower which I co-hosted with a friend of theirs, and since I was busy prepping for that, my typical weekend post got moved to today. I spent the past two weeks making all sorts of things for the shower and thought it would be fun to share in another craft series post. Two weeks ago, I made super easy cupcake toppers with toothpicks and plaid scrapbook paper. And last week I went a little craft crazy (kind of like the week before my wedding) and made wooden cupcake tier stands, dessert and favor labels and wood signage. Let's start off with the simplest of these projects - the cupcake toppers!

Supplies: Toothpicks, scrapbook paper (design of choice), scissors and glue of choiceTime: 15+ minutes depending on how many you need to make

I made these cute little cupcake toppers while sitting on the couch watching Friends. They are that simple. Also, it kind of looks like we're having a Scottish themed party with all the plaid! Anyway, I just cut the scrapbook paper into strips, following the lines in the pattern, about the same width apart and then wrapped them around the toothpick and adhered with the glue stick. Once I made about 40 mini flags, I decided they would be cute with an angled cut at the end so I just added that with the scissors.

After making these little flags two weeks ago, I decided to try my hand at building some wooden tier platters for the cupcakes too, because now that they have adorable toppers, I figured they also needed a great base. There weren't any tutorials on Pinterest, and all the Etsy ones were over my budget, so I walked around Hobby Lobby for about an hour earlier last week trying to figure out what I could use between each layer of wood.

I had no idea if these would turn out or if they would be strong enough to hold a bunch of cupcakes but once I finished putting them together, and waited a full 24 hours for them to dry, I picked them up, swung them around and shook them a bunch to insure they felt sturdy. To create these, I just stacked the wood candle holders and attached them to one another with wood glue. Be sure to use a good amount of force for a tight seal and just wipe away any excess glue that seeps out the sides. Once the candle holders were sealed, then I glued them to each wood base and continued to stack for the tiers.

Below are some detail shots of the dessert table with the fun labels and toppers I made. I also made the label holders with wine corks and cut a slit in them with a serrated kitchen knife. There are tons of different ways to make them and you can find ideas on Pinterest, like this and this. All party photos were taken by my lovely and talented younger sister. To go with the lumberjack theme, a local baker made us maple-bacon cupcakes and s'mores brownies. And because they are my sister-in-law's favorite, I also ordered red velvet cupcakes.

I have a design board in Pinterest for party ideas and had pinned a few different ones for the shower, so when I was looking through it last week, I saw these wooden signs again and decided to build them for the shower too. I made mine a little differently, so I decided to share the tutorial here.

I emailed Keith the Mint Love Social Club tutorial first to make sure he was up for adding the door hinges once he got home last Thursday. He said yes and so after work, I went to Hobby Lobby first for the vinyl letters, and then to Home Depot for the plywood and door hinges. I just asked the store to cut the plywood for me and then came home, taped three different pieces of wood and adhered the vinyl letters to each. I used the 6" letters for the sign at the bottom of the driveway and then 4" letters for the other two signs. Then, when Keith got home he attached two hinges to each for the folding action. Unfortunately I didn't get in-action shots of him because I was already upstairs engrossed in Recapturing Amelia (so good!) but he added the hinges a little differently than Mint Love Social Club.

If you look closely at some of that blog's photos, you'll notice that the screws are actually coming through to the front of the plywood since it's so thin. Keith didn't want screws sticking out of the signs, so he actually cut 12 pieces of our scrap-wood and screwed the hinges first into that and then into the plywood. If you wanted to do this as well, you'll either need to have a miter saw or just have the lumber store also cut those for you when you buy the plywood. Here's a close-up shot of the side of the signs to see that detail:

Once they were all finished, I decided they needed a little extra oomph so I swung by Michael's Craft Store after work on Friday and bought a few different washi tapes to add to the signs.

I also decorated a piece of scrap-wood as signage for the onesie decorating station and just leaned it on the table. If you have a little extra time, you might want to lightly sand the tops and sides of the signs to avoid any splinters for guests, but I wanted this to be a quick, easy project so I skipped that step. Below is a shot of one of the signs at the party that led guests to the outdoor game area for beanbag toss, washers and horseshoes.

It was a great party and I think the happy couple really enjoyed themselves! I'm very much looking forward to meeting their little lumberjack, my newest nephew, whenever he decides to join us sometime in April. I'd love some feedback on the craft series and if you have any specific requests of future projects you'd like to see. Happy crafting!